When Rafael Furcal decided against having surgery to fix the torn ligament in his right elbow, the Cardinals hoped for the best.

Whether they prepared for the worst isn’t so certain.

Now that Furcal has been shut down because of elbow pain, the Cardinals are looking at the disturbing possibility—more like probability—of opening the season without a proven shortstop.

Ronny Cedeno was signed to be what he is, a backup. Pete Kozma filled in nicely for Furcal last fall but otherwise has given little indication he can be a big-league regular. Daniel Descalso is considered solid enough defensively but a lack of offense already has jeopardized his standing at second base.

Suddenly, faulting the Cardinals for not finding a shortstop solution during the offseason has become fashionable in St. Louis. But that doesn’t mean such criticism is fair.

Consider: Team physicians through the offseason have been saying Furcal’s damaged elbow is improving and should be a go by opening day. Because the Cardinals already were on the hook to pay Furcal $7 million, their wait-and-see approach made sense.

If the Cardinals had wanted to match the $9 million, one-year deal that Stephen Drew scored from the Red Sox, the Cardinals would have had $16 million invested in the shortstop position (And Drew still figured to turn them down because the Cardinals couldn’t guarantee him playing time like the Red Sox could).

St. Louis could have pushed harder in trading for Asdrubal Cabrera but according to reports, the Indians were asking too much. Same with the Rangers and Elvis Andrus. Hoping that Furcal would be OK, the Cardinals saw no reason to overpay.

But now Furcal isn’t OK, and it’s become difficult to believe he will be OK anytime soon.

Though a hole at shortstop would threaten their season, the Cardinals should remain patient. Three reasons:

— To seek a trade now would imply panic, which would drive up the price of a shortstop even more.

— Because of the second wild card, the Cardinals have time to see if their in-house candidates can handle the position if Furcal can’t. If they’re around .500 as the trade deadline approaches, they’ll still be in the chase and then could make their move. If they’ve fallen out of contention by then, it’ll be because they had more holes than at shortstop.

— The Cardinals would be foolish to admit this but after their success of the past two seasons, they can afford to have an off year. Win or lose in 2013, they’ll still draw three million-plus and they’ll still be set up for success in 2014.

One reason their future appears so promising is because of their front office’s pragmatic approach. They’re not likely to act rashly now, and they shouldn’t.